Mykhailo Verbytsky was a Greek Catholic priest from Galicia who became one of the first professional Ukrainian composers of his region. His name is inscribed in history forever: around 1863 he wrote the music to Pavlo Chubynsky's poem “Shche ne vmerla Ukraina,” which later became the National Anthem of Ukraine.
Verbytsky created in the era of Galicia's national awakening: he wrote choruses, art songs, music for theatrical productions (“folk operettas”), and works for the guitar — an instrument he mastered thoroughly. His output laid the foundation of professional Ukrainian music in the western lands, and the anthem set to his music today sounds at every ceremony of independent Ukraine, uniting the nation.
